Balimaya Project

Balimaya Project is a London-based 16-piece collective that fuses West-African folkloric music and jazz. Formed in 2019 by percussionist Yahael Camara Onono, a second-generation Londoner, the band uses the repertoire and instrumentation of the Mande peoples of Senegal and Mali as the bridge to bring the folkloric West African music together with jazz and the sounds of Black London. The word "Balimaya" comes from the Maninka language and means the essence of kinship.